Liverpool scraped a 2-1 win against Monterrey yesterday evening to advance to the Club World Cup final, and TV presenter Gary Lineker says that the Reds defence looked far from secure without the absent Virgil van Dijk:
Liverpool without @VirgilvDijk at the back look a bit like Liverpool used to look at the back before they signed @VirgilvDijk.
— Gary Lineker (@GaryLineker) December 18, 2019
Considering manager Jurgen Klopp was forced to select Jordan Henderson at the back, it is no surprise that the Reds struggled. Joe Gomez is currently their only fit centre-half and they will be delighted that both Ki-Jana Hoever and Sepp van den Berg have flown out ahead of the clash against Flamengo.
Liverpool have eight players on the sidelines at the moment; an injury crisis which has seemingly gone unnoticed by some in the media. Klopp is hoping to have van Dijk back from illness for the weekend, while Georginio Wijnaldum could also make a comeback from a muscular problem.
However, players such as Fabinho (ankle), Joel Matip (knee), Dejan Lovren (thigh), Nathaniel Clyne (knee), Harvey Elliott (knock) and Rhian Brewster (ankle) are all currently on the sidelines.